Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. IPv6 was developed to address the long-anticipated problem of IPv4 address exhaustion. The management of IPv6 address allocation process is delegated to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The main function of the IANA is the assignment of large address blocks to the regional Internet registries (RIRs), which have the delegated task of allocation to network service providers and other local registries. The RIRs assign smaller blocks to local Internet registries that distributes them to users.
One drawback to the IPv6 protocol is that it does not have any built-in geo-location services. There is no field in IPv6 headers, extensions, etc. that transmits the user's location information just as there are no fields in IPv4 that provides geo-location services. Depending on the manner in which an Internet Service Provider (ISP) decides to allocate its block of addresses, they may or may not choose to use geography as a driving force. There is nothing in a conventional IPv6 address that will intrinsically provide the geographic breakdown simply by inspecting the IP address. While the regional registries are given large blocks to allocate, these blocks may only give, at best, continent level information. This is problematic because there is no way to determine the location of a client simply by analyzing the IP address. For example, a US company could receive a large block of address from American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) and then route them all over the world. As a result, an address block may designate California, but certain IP addresses associated with the block may actually be used by the company's Shanghai office.
Consequently, it is challenging for network managers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to configure their networks to make decisions based on the geo-location of the Internet traffic.